Ditch Valentine’s and Celebrate Galentine’s Day Instead!

Valentine’s Day is almost here! A day of couples celebrating their relationships, going out to dinner, seeing romantic movies, kissing, all that cutesy, love stuff that your Facebook feeds have been prepping you for. But who cares about that shit? Feb. 13, the much more important day before Valentine’s Day, is Galentine’s Day!

What is Galentine’s Day?

Coined by the beloved fictional Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, Leslie Knope (portrayed by Amy Poehler), Galentine’s Day is the time to “kick it breakfast style” with your ladyfriends, give gifts and just generally celebrate without the need for romantic obligation. There are plenty of ways to celebrate Galentine’s Day, and no two G-Day parties are alike, so here are some suggestions to make this Feb. 13 a blast.

Don’t Let Your Gal Pals Get Hangry

Start your Galentine’s Day off right with a heapin’ helpin’ of waffles. If you don’t have a waffle maker or baking skills, head over to your favorite local diner, but if you do, here are a couple of fun ways to prepare a traditional Galentine’s Day breakfast:

Dear Crissy’s Cake Batter Waffles – Made simply with confetti cake mix, these waffles are almost more like dessert than breakfast. That just makes them even more awesome.

Stay In and Chillax

You’re more than free to get dolled up and head out on the town, but if you’re more of a homebody (and your friends are, too), be confident that you can still celebrate Galentine’s Day from the comfort of your own couch, no dress-up required. There are a ton of things you can do at home with your friends instead of going out:

Marathon Jessica Jones on Netflix because OMG, does it have one of the best girl-friendships in recent TV show history. Trish and Jessica’s bond is deep, complex, not without its potholes, but ultimately, a positive pairing of two strong women navigating a terrifying game of cat and mouse.

Throw a board game bonanza! There are a million fun board games out there, ranging from the casual to the totally nerd-tastic, and they’re all made for having fun. Just try not to win too hard and ruin any friendships.

Hold a spa sleepover, especially if you made that strawberry sugar scrub from earlier. As we get older, sometimes we forget how much fun it was to stay up all night and just hang out with our friends, so take this Galentine’s Day to reconnect with friends you maybe haven’t had a lot of time to spend with lately (especially since it’s on a Saturday).

What are your plans for Feb. 13? Let us know what your Galentine’s Day celebrations look like in the comments below!